07

Too good not to pass along..

The Daughter of a Soldier

Last week I was in Atlanta, Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest act's of patriotism I have ever seen.

Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camo's, as they began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.

Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal.

Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said "Hi." The little girl then she asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her. The young soldier (who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself) said he would try, and asked what she wanted him to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.  The mother of the little girl, who said her daughters name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter, Courtney, missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up. When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.  After about 10 - 15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, "I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you." He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying, "Your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon."

The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet he saluted Courtney and her mom.  I was standing no more than 6 feet away from them as this entire event unfolded.  As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, their were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.

We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American. Just keeping you "in the loop" so you'll know what's going on in case this takes off.  Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing Red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the "silent majority". We are no longer silent and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers.

We are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing. We get no liberal media coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions. Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops. Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect on Friday - and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear something red.

By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers. If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family, it will not be long before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know the once "silent" majority is on their side more than ever, certainly more than the media lets on. The first thing a soldier says when asked, "What can we do to make things better for you?" is "We need your support and your prayers."

Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example; and wear something red every Friday.

... IT IS YOUR CHOICE. WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE, ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE.

THEIR BLOOD RUNS RED ---- SO WEAR RED! --- MAY GOD HELP AMERICA TO BECOME ONE NATION, UNDER GOD.

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Hi, Carol (Buckley Harty - '65 - of NC) and Dave (Spriggs - '64 - of VA):

What a wonderful way to use this website, by sharing the condensed article about John Paul Jones. Dave, your contribution to this website is just outstanding!

As I may have mentioned once or twice, without David's vision this website would be a mere shadow of itself. There's just no one like him. Thank you again, Captain, for all that you do!

Regarding JPJ, one of the long standing duties of the US Marine Corps Detachment at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis was to guard the tomb of John Paul Jones. Now that the Marine Detachment has been disbanded at USNA this duty was also terminated.

I will try to find a photo of a US Maine standing guard at the tomb for you, since I know how much you admire USMC Dress Blues.

Joe Madagan ('57) of FL

Brenda Staples' (Hampton HS '60) mother owned Ruth Staples House of Beauty in Wythe. Brenda always had blonde hair, but she attended either a prom or some other school dance with pink hair to match her dress. While different color hair on girls today is common, not so back then.......but WHO was going to tell beautiful Brenda that it looked odd??

GIGGLES!!! Thanks, Gloria! I posted this at last:

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/old-stomping.html

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/OOSG-N-R.html

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/ruth-staple-house-of-beauty.html

Remembering the old, old TV shows........do you remember Romper Room with Miss _____?? This from the internet: Each program would consist of the hostess and her group of children embarking on an hour of games, songs and moral lessons. The Romper Room tried to teach its young charges to be polite. For instance, the hostess was always addressed as "Miss." Many of the hostesses had prior experience in dealing with small children; in fact, a good deal of them were former kindergarten teachers. A recurring character was Mr. Do Bee, an oversized bumblebee who came to teach the children how to be well-behaved; he was noted for always starting his sentence with "Do Bee," as in the imperative "Do be"; for example, "Do Bee good boys and girls for your parents!" At the end of each broadcast, the hostess would look through a "magic mirror" (in reality, just a small transparent mirror with a handle) and name the children she saw in "televisionland." She would begin with the rhyme: "Romper, bomper, stomper boo. Tell me, tell me, tell me, do. Magic mirror, tell me today. Have all my friends been good at play?" She would then lead into "I can see Scotty and Kimberly and Julie and Jimmy and Marcie and all of you boys and girls out there!" To give the children the impression that they might be the next one called, the names were changed every day.

Television junkie that I have ever been, I remember Romper Room quite clearly. I think I had time to watch it - and Miss Frances' Ding Dong School and some of Captain Kangaroo - before I walked to school each morning (assuming I actually deigned to go to school that day...).

And I remember watching a very scary show where at the end, the host (maybe Frank Gallop ?) would blow out a candle and say "lights out" real scary! This was right before my bedtime.......needless to say, I didn't want to go. No wonder I had bad dreams as a kid. :)

One of the phrases we used to employ during the quest for the 1957 Men's Basketball State Championship came to mind while driving west in the Commonwealth of Virginia this week. The road sign read "Gretna" and just the name brought back such memories that I cracked up laughing.

Whenever a player from an opposing team would become aggressive and confrontational with the TYPHOON the players on the bench would yell out "Gretna" or "He must be from Gretna" to intimidate the aggressive player and it sure worked.

I am sure someone knows the origin of this phrase. Just maybe it was the reputation earned by those residents of Gretna. Maybe one of your subscribers can give us an explanation as to the origin of this phrase.

Joe Madagan ('57) of FL